Chapter Text
Bucky had felt his whole body go on point when the three people entered the room. He had recognized two of them, he had fought both of them before, back when he had still been on Hydra’s leash. But before that he had known the taller one…Steve. He knew the memories where there somewhere, but it hurt every time he tried to recall them.
The third person was a mystery. It was a female, short, brunette, and completely harmless. He kept his eyes focused on her, it was easier than looking into the face of the man he should know. He mouthed for help over and over, though he never expected to be answered. It surprised him when the woman had ignored the other man and came to him.
She reached out, her small hand offering something he hadn’t been given in seventy years. Hope, compassion, caring. It frightened him at first, surely he was already shoved away in his little frozen box and the woman and her selfless offer was nothing more than a dream. He waited for the vision in front of him to be violently ripped away, to be left alone in the nothingness. He could never describe the feeling that rushed through his body when he rested his cheek against her hand and everything remained. It was real and he was being touched with care.
He pleaded with her and gathered her to him. He didn’t want to loose that feeling, her flesh against his, her heart beat pounding against his chest. He needed her scent in his lungs, her touch against his body, he needed that taste that rushed over his tongue when he breathed in open-mouthed against her neck. He needed it more than anything in the world, and he would do everything to protect it.